Lounge Doctor

THR Break on through..

Welcome to the club @NewShoes! Hope your healing progresses well. You will have some temporary pains replacing the old pains, but soon you will be pain-free (at least with regard to the hip)!

Best of luck.
 
@NewShoes Welcome to the recovery side and congratulations on getting a new hip!

Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary.
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this
Activity progression for THRs
6. Access these pages on the website
Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications
Wound Care In Hospital

The Recovery articles:
Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.
We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.
While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
NewShoes said:
...to the other side!!

I made it. Moving is ouch. So stiff. Hopefully going home today.

Thanks all.
Camille
Click to expand...
Update:

Got home about 4pm yesterday.

My bed is a challenge since it's high and the mattress is soft.

I just keep moving - from bed to different chairs, short walks; A LOT of short walks. I try not to stay in bed more than an hour unless I'm really tired or sleeping. No more than 20 minutes per chair, then short walk.

I didn't have any appetite on Mon. or Tues. I had 3 Nilla wafers after surgery and about a quarter of dry Raisin Bran cereal cup yesterday. Today I've had 4 Ritz crackers and half a protein shake. I'm starting to get my appetite back today.

It's challenging when you're recovering alone.

I don't have any bruising on my leg although I haven't seen under the bandage.

Being here and reading so many stories about people's journeys has kept me grounded. I can't thank you all enough.

Regards,
Camille
 
Welcome to the healing journey, @NewShoes!

I had trouble with my appetite right after surgery, too. Protein shakes are a good start. It is really important to eat well after surgery-- good nutrition is essential for healing. Eat whatever seems appealing. I found small frequent snacks were easier to handle than meals.

Regarding the bruising: I didn't have much the first few days either. Then, my entire leg swelled up and showed bruising over the next week. If I remember correctly, it hit "peak color" at about day 10 and then started to recede. It worried me a first, until I read other's posts that it's normal.

Keep us posted on your recovery. We are here for you! :flwrysmile:
 
MissFanny said:
I did outpatient and had my surgery today. I will be following your progress with interest since you are a little ahead of me. Good luck!
Click to expand...
Congratulations. :happydance: The people on here are wonderful.
My suggestions/observations:
1) take the pain meds
2) listen to PT and OT and ask them questions about your individual circumstances (they loved that)
3) every time I get up from sitting (even if it's just 5 minutes) the incision area gets tight
4) my uninvolved muscles and joints are even angry (aka sore)
5) I'm tired, physically tired. Take naps.

Best of luck. I don't have as much experience/information as the rest of the hippies, but you're most welcome to ask anything.

Regards,
Camille
 
NewShoes said:
...to the other side!!

I made it. Moving is ouch. So stiff. Hopefully going home today.

Thanks all.
Camille
Click to expand...
Of all things...

I think I'm sitting on the toilet wrong. After I used the bathroom, I get that femoral-head ache in my butt that I had before surgery. It subsides in less than an hour but freaks me out.

Any tips? I've tried keeping my legs/hips/pelvis inline and I've tried opening my legs a little wider. Geez, I just read what I wrote. I'm sorry to be so graphic. :umm:

The swelling hit yesterday. My right thigh was almost twice the size of my left. I just kept icing, stayed away from sodium, ate strawberries (yum) and drank a lot of water. There's no swelling below the knee, so I didn't use the wedge.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Camille
 
:hi:Hi Camille, I suggest you use the wedge anyway.
It is our lymph system that rids the body of fluid (swelling). So you want to get the fluid to the lymph nodes in your torso area so your body can more quickly process it. The lymph system works rather slowly on its own and much more efficiently with the assistance of gravity. The fluid isn’t draining into the hips, but contained with the lymph system and moving to the torso and lymph nodes located there.

Try an online search on "How To Use The Toilet After Total Hip Replacement" there will be videos for you to use as guidance. I believe you may find it helpful.

Wishing you comfort and lots of restorative rest over the weekend. You're doing great! :)
@NewShoes
 
The femoral head ache pain in your butt is the muscles, you don't have a femoral head that has feelings any more. Pain in the butt is very common post-op. Do you have a raised toilet?, that makes it a lot easier to get positioned and get up. Don't know if you were told of any restrictions but sitting too low and twisting around isn't good the first part of recovery.
 
Eman85 said:
The femoral head ache pain in your butt is the muscles, you don't have a femoral head that has feelings any more. Pain in the butt is very common post-op. Do you have a raised toilet?, that makes it a lot easier to get positioned and get up. Don't know if you were told of any restrictions but sitting too low and twisting around isn't good the first part of recovery.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have raised toilets. I didn't get much information from my surgeon. Most information came from here and PT/OT. I had the lateral approach.

Getting down and up isn't really my issue. It's leg/hip placement while sitting. How far apart? Is there too far apart? And then there's that butt sensation that you addressed.

I just don't want to do anything to hurt myself but I also need to use the toilet. :bawl:

Thanks for your reply.

Regards,
Camille
 
NewShoes said:
NewShoes said:
...to the other side!!

I made it. Moving is ouch. So stiff. Hopefully going home today.

Thanks all.
Camille
Click to expand...
Of all things...

I think I'm sitting on the toilet wrong. After I used the bathroom, I get that femoral-head ache in my butt that I had before surgery. It subsides in less than an hour but freaks me out.

Any tips? I've tried keeping my legs/hips/pelvis inline and I've tried opening my legs a little wider. Geez, I just read what I wrote. I'm sorry to be so graphic. :umm:

The swelling hit yesterday. My right thigh was almost twice the size of my left. I just kept icing, stayed away from sodium, ate strawberries (yum) and drank a lot of water. There's no swelling below the knee, so I didn't use the wedge.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Camille
Click to expand...
I used the wedge for the swelling. It hasn't made any noticeable difference yet and it's really scary getting my leg up there but I'm going to keep using it twice a day for 10-20 minutes at a time.

My leg doesn't have that warm feeling anymore but I'm still doing the cold packs; 20 minutes on and off all day anyway.

Before the THR, I never realized how much I bent forward to eat. Ima startin' to think that I'm a sloppy eater...6 shirts and 1 pair of shorts dripped on while eating in ~5 days. :thud:

I'm still working on using the toilet without incident. Chairs that used to be comfortable aren't. I have a callous on my left hand from the walker (mostly from before surgery). I'm not as tired. Still taking a lot of short walks around the house and out onto the patio and I'm thankful that it's this Saturday instead of last Saturday.

Regards,
Camille
 
You have an ADA chair height toilet, I used a toilet from like the hospitals have which goes over the toilet and is adjustable for height. You can put your legs any way you want as long as you don't force them or twist them. You say lateral, is you scar on the side? Wherever the scar is would be the place they rotated your femur head to so they could remove it and drive the implant in. That is the direction your muscles would be the weakest and most prone to dislocate in which is the biggest thing you don't want to do.
20 mins of icing wouldn't have cut it for me. I had a machine and if I wasn't moving it was on me. Ice is the best for getting comfortable.
 
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